"Pride
and Shame": The Museum Exhibit that Helped Launch the
Japanese American Redress Movement

by Allison Shephard

In the summer of 1970, the Seattle chapter of the Japanese
American Citizens League (JACL) organized a revolutionary museum exhibit and
showcased it at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) for a
three month period. The exhibit was titled “Pride and Shame,” and
chronicled the history of the Japanese and Japanese Americans in the Pacific
Northwest from the late 1800s to the present, 1970. Though museum staff
expected the exhibit to be a community celebration, a significant part of
the exhibit focused instead on the Japanese internment experience during
World War Two. “Pride and Shame” helped the public and younger Japanese
Americans learn what internment was like and witness the full extent of its
effects after years of silence. The exhibit had lasting effects on those
who saw it, and millions of others who did not see it. This essay tells the
story of how “Pride and Shame” helped change public opinion about the
Japanese American experience in World War Two. The exhibit was displayed at
a pivotal time in American history, following on the heels of major gains by
the civil rights movement. The resulting community into which “Pride and
Shame” was showcased provided for a receptive and thoughtful reaction. By
questioning internment, the exhibit prompted scholars and non-scholars alike
to revisit the issue and take seriously the need for reparations. The
ensuing Japanese American redress movement of the 1970s traces its roots to
the “Pride and Shame” exhibit.

Investigating “Pride and Shame” was a complicated, yet
fulfilling undertaking. Information about the museum exhibit is scant,
difficult to interpret, and, at times, incomplete. The main points of
reference about “Pride and Shame” come from two sets of papers at the
University of Washington Libraries Special Collections: The Donald Kazama
Papers and the Seattle JACL Papers. Wading through the stacks of artifacts,
notes, and miscellaneous papers was tedious but informative and rewarding.
Robert Shimabukuro’s book, Born in Seattle: The Campaign for American
Redress, proved to be a valuable secondary source of information about
Seattle’s Japanese community and its influential role in the movement for
redress. Shimabukuro considers the “Pride and Shame” exhibit, and argues
that it was a vital factor in getting Japanese Americans to seek political
and economic redress for internment.

The Pride and Shame
exhibit did not emerge out of thin air. It came out of years of pent up
emotion in the Japanese American community. It came from a real event that
affected thousands of Japanese and non-Japanese people in very different
ways. Before the particulars of the exhibit are discussed, it is important
to set up the need from which the exhibit originated and the context within
which it was created.

History: The Japanese
American Internment Experience

When Pearl Harbor was
bombed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, Japanese citizens and aliens
within the United States were just as shocked as the non-Japanese. Many
Japanese-Americans living in the United States were American citizens. The
bombing was just as much an attack on Japanese living in the United States
as it was on the general public. Even though those of Japanese descent were
equally attacked in the bombing, they endured a much different fate than the
general public. In the atmosphere of wartime hysteria, President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. This
presidential decree announced that those of Japanese descent presented a
severe threat to the security of the United States. This threat was
considered so great that the decision was made to relocate Japanese and
Japanese Americans to the interior of the United States to internment
camps. Despite protection of the writ of habeas corpus and the pursuit of
life, liberty, and property under the Constitution, both of these safeguards
were denied by the Executive Order 9066.[1]
Over 110,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans were uprooted from their homes
along the West coast and forced to move into the interment camps. Because
the Japanese were not given much notice about their evacuation, many lost
their homes, businesses, and possessions. The Commission on Wartime
Relocation and Internment of Civilians estimates that the total property
lost was $1.3 billion, and net income lost was $2.7 billion (calculated in
1983 dollars).[2]
More damaging to the Japanese community was the loss of personal liberty and
dignity.

Ten interment camps were
established in remote areas of the United States. They included: Heart
Mountain in Wyoming, Tule Lake and Manzanar in California, Topaz in Utah,
Poston and Gila River in Arizona, Granada in Colorado, Minidoka in Idaho,
and Jerome and Rowher in Arkansas.[3]
These places were to house Japanese and Japanese Americans for more than
four years, but they never were to become home. Families were crammed into
small barracks, surrounded by barbed-wire fences and armed guard towers.

The internment camps
were cleared of their prisoners in early 1945 and many Japanese and Japanese
Americans returned to their homes. Unfortunately, there was not much to
return to; the Japanese communities that had once thrived in the United
States had been destroyed by four years in internment camps. They set to
work to regain what had been lost during internment, but the path to success
and acceptance was rough for all and unattainable for some. The distrust
and betrayal of the United States had a lasting effect on the Japanese
community. Feelings of shame, resentment, sadness, and confusion plagued
many Japanese and Japanese Americans. These feelings were dealt with in
varying ways: Some people tried to forget what had happened to them, many
lived in shame and bitterness, and some even thought that internment had
been for their best and perhaps was deserved. As Larry Matsuda, an educator
and activist born in Minidoka internment camp, recently pondered:

What can you do if the
government—your government—turns against you? You are a citizen and they
put you in jail overnight and you are then an outlaw. Would you want to
talk about that afterwards? No, it’s something you want to forget, move on
past.[4]

And
yet, not everyone was willing to forget and move on from their internment
experience. Some Japanese Americans fought for acknowledgment and justice
for what had happened to the Japanese in the United States.

Although over 110,000
people had been removed from their homes, many among the general public were
unaware of the extent to which the Japanese and Japanese American suffered
during World War Two. The ignorance and prejudice of most Americans
regarding the internment insulted and alarmed those who were victimized by
it. Furthermore, many of the younger Japanese Americans were not fully
aware of what their elders had endured. The desire to inform these two
unknowledgeable groups coincided with a growing but understated desire to
seek retribution from the government for the injustices inflicted upon the
Japanese. As that need became more strongly felt in the Japanese American
community, it was clear that awareness about the internment experience would
have to be raised among the public. The Asian youth movement of the late
1960s was part of this awareness raising.[5]
So was the national campaign, from 1967 to 1971, to repeal Title II of the
McCarran Act on the grounds that it could be used to rationalize another
round of internment of American “subversives.”[6]
In Seattle, the first major attempt to revisit the issue of Japanese
internment occurred in the summer of 1970 through the creation of the “Pride
and Shame” exhibit.

Planning for
Story-Telling: Creating a Museum Exhibit

The planning and
implementation of “Pride and Shame” resulted from the Japanese American
Citizens League (JACL) efforts in Seattle. This national civil rights group
had been created in 1929 in California to promote Japanese Americans’
rights, taking its inspiration in part from the Seattle Progressive Citizens
League.[7]
After World War Two, the group actively sought aid from the government for
”resettlement” after internment, a form of redress. Although these efforts
were met with some action by the government, it was not considered adequate
by JACL activists.

In early 1970, Seattle’s
Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) asked the Seattle JACL to put
together an exhibit to coincide with the 1970 Expo in Osaka.[8]
MOHAI asked that the exhibit display the history of Japanese Americans in
the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on the JACL. The JACL accepted the
offer, but ended up bringing a different agenda to the exhibit than MOHAI
had expected.

Tomio Moriguchi, owner
of Seattle’s prominent Uwajimaya grocery store, was the President of the
Seattle JACL chapter at the time. He helped turn the exhibit space provided
to the JACL by MOHAI into an opportunity to do more than display cultural
aspects of the Japanese and Japanese Americans in the Northwest. When he
created and co-chaired the JACL’s exhibit Committee, he inadvertently put
together a Committee that included community activists who wanted to put
particular emphasis on the incarceration of the Japanese during World War
Two. Minoru Masuda co-chaired the Committee with Moriguchi, and Committee
members included Harold Kawaguchi, Donald Kazama, Larry Matsuda, James
Morishima, Elaine Nakai, June Shimokawa, Calvin Tokagi, Ben Yorito, Barbara
Yoshida, and Fran Wada.[9]

Quickly, then, the MOHAI
exhibit expanded to incorporate booths from community groups throughout the
city, and shifted its focus to include political as well as social topics.
Initial support for the shift was gauged by a letter dated April 3, 1970, in
which the Seattle JACL described the possible museum exhibit and called for
support from within the Japanese community. “The topic for consideration
will be Japanese culture, art and history as it relates to the third
generation citizens….Your comments and ideas as well as assistance will be
needed to make a worthy display.”[10]
Japanese organizations that responded and aided in the creation of the
exhibit included multiple Japanese churches; the Nisei Veteran’s Committee;
the Japanese Consulate General of Seattle; Asian Coalition for Equality
(ACE); the Japanese Cultural Festival, Inc.; the Rokka Ski Club; and Boy
Scout Troop #53.[11]
Moriguchi described the positive response as an event taking place at a
fitting moment. “Maybe the timing was right. It gave people an opportunity
to release some pent-up emotions, feelings that were bottled up.”[12]
With a budget of $600, such backing was essential.[13]
The JACL received support from these organizations through the donation of
photographs, personal testimonies, help in organizing the display, and
advertisement of the exhibit. Work on the exhibit brought people of various
organizations and of widely varying ages together to work towards a common
goal for the first time. This overwhelming show of support and fraternity
encouraged all involved, and allowed the JACL to move along in the planning
stages excitedly.

Less than one month
later, on May 1, 1970, the JACL sent out invitations for the exhibit.[14]
The invitation provided the exhibit’s specifics and informed readers about
its objective. The invitation said the exhibit’s purpose was “To show the
general public, and particularly the younger Japanese people, the history to
date of the Japanese people in the United States.” The invitation further
described the exhibit’s purpose as displaying “the history of the Japanese
relocation camps and anti-Japanese agitation, biographies of well-known
local Japanese, the history of established Japanese organizations, and the
history of early Japanese occupations.”
[15] While the invitation described the
educational goals of the exhibit, the Seattle JACL hoped that much more
would be learned from the display. In an informational book about the
exhibit, the JACL wrote, “this public program is submitted with the hope
that it will bring unity to a divided society, understanding of the nature
of diversity in a pluralistic culture, and the recognition of the dignity of
all groups.”[16]
Approaching the presentation of the exhibit with high expectations for
public revelation and approval, the JACL continued to collect archives and
refine the exhibit layout.

What’s In A Name?

An important aspect to
the exhibit was the creation of a strong and compelling title. Larry
Matsuda, the first teacher to introduce Asian American history into
Washington State’s schools, and the youngest member of the Pride and Shame
Committee, came up with the name “Pride and Shame” at one of the Committee
meetings. Taken from a Walter Cronkite special called “The Nisei: The Pride
and the Shame,” Matsuda adapted it to “Pride and Shame.” He went on to
explain to the committee members the suitability of the title, relating the
pride in the achievements of the Japanese Americans and the shame from the
injustice of being interned.[17]
A report written after the exhibit was shown described the two opposing
words of the title:

‘Pride’ refers to the
proudness and spirit of an immigrant race who came to these alien shores to
seek its fortunes. ‘Pride’ refers to their accomplishments as pioneers in a
young and growing west….‘Pride’ means their families and their children, the
second generation Nisei, marginal, trying to bridge the gap with one foot in
the Japanese community and the other in an unfriendly, dominant society,
striving to fulfill the dreams of achievement. ‘Pride’ means the Sansei,
the third generation, seeking to establish their identity, working to
redress the inequities of society in their own different way.[18]

To
complete the Japanese American story, however, it was essential to include
and acknowledge the shame of being discriminated against, interned, and
betrayed by the American government. The report further described:

‘Shame’ means the
history of prejudice and discrimination that white society has long
inflicted on minorities…’shame’ means the explosion of fear, hysteria, and
racism that resulted in the forced wartime evacuation of over 110,000
Japanese, two thirds of them American citizens, from their homes on the west
coast to 10 concentration camps in the interior. As the Nikkei people now
seek to eradicate inequities that exist in all fields of endeavor for all
minorities, it is the ‘shame’ of American society that such inequities
exist.’[19]

The title “Pride and Shame” reflected approximately 100 years of Japanese
history in the United States, supporting the exhibit’s wide range of
topics. The committee accepted the title for the exhibit and continued
advertising the exhibit.

The Exhibit

The subjects for the
exhibit were given much consideration by the JACL committee and Japanese
American contributors. After deliberating on multiple topics and methods of
presentation, the committee decided on seven issues within the Japanese
American community’s past and present: the Issei Pioneer, The Japanese
American Community, World War Two and Evacuation, Concentration Camps—USA,
Proof In Blood, Sansei Looks at Today, and The Challenge. Included within
the framework of these overarching themes were details of early occupations
of the Japanese, Japanese American organizations and activities, well-known,
local Japanese American personalities, and the Japanese American World War
Two experience. These subjects were displayed through the use of
photographic essays, scale models, and cultural objects along multiple
panels.[20]
The style in which the subjects were displayed created a mood of sharing—and
rightfully so, since the goal of the exhibit was to share the Japanese
American experience with younger members of the community and the general
public.

The internment
experience did not dominate the exhibit, even if it is what the Pride and
Shame would be most remembered for. The pride of the Japanese for their
community, heritage, and perseverance was well documented in the exhibit.
Numerous pictures featured Japanese from different eras engaging in cultural
and American activities. A female mannequin displayed the traditional dress
of a Japanese woman, while pictures on the panel behind her showed Japanese
men and women in American attire. Other panels showed the various Japanese
religious institutions. The Buddhist Church received three panels and
exhibited pictures of the church, a picture collage of Japanese youth, and
information about Buddhism. Another three panels were dedicated to the
Blaine Memorial United Methodist and the Japanese Congregational Church.
Photographs were the main medium used to convey information, showing people,
the church structures, and portraits of various pastors. Multiple panels
chronicled the early occupations of Japanese settlers through pictures,
including railroading, lumbering, fisheries and canneries, farming, and
hotel work. A scale model on display portrayed Japanese men working on the
construction of railroad tracks. Finally, several panels spoke to the
Sansei, the third generation of Japanese in the United States, describing
current events and activities within the community.[21]
All of these subjects highlighted the positive history of the present
situation of the Japanese American community and individuals. The
accomplishments of the Japanese Americans on display depicted and kindled
pride within the community. The inclusion of these positive aspects of the
Japanese American experience was vital to the exhibit. Because the “Pride
and Shame” exhibit was the first of its kind to display the injustices
inflicted upon the Japanese Americans during World War Two, it was sure to
meet unreceptive and unwilling audiences. The pleasant feelings evoked from
the “pride” displays would be beneficial to viewers when observing those
parts of the exhibit dedicated to the “shame” of America’s wartime policies.

Three panels were
dedicated to the incarceration experience of the Japanese and Japanese
Americans; the title was made of newspaper headlines and spelled out “JAPS.”
One panel presented the notices and public proclamations of the Japanese
evacuation. It also showed examples of yellow peril propaganda. In bold
letters and in the middle of this panel, a quote from Supreme Court Justice
Murphy describing the injustice of internment was placed: “One of the most
sweeping and complete deprivations of constitutional rights in the history
of this nation in the absence of martial law.” One of the fears about
displaying the internment history was a revival of Japanese discrimination.[22]
This quote reminded viewers that what had happened was indeed an injustice.
A second panel showed pictures of the evacuation process. The photographs
displayed groups of Japanese leaving their homes, boarding trains to the
internment camps, waiting with luggage, and other images of relocation.
Other pictures portrayed the barracks and the camps, highlighting the
desolate and inadequate living conditions in which the Japanese were forced
to subsist. The third panel in the series showed more images of camp life.
A map of the United States illustrated where the ten internment camps were
located, and an aerial shot of one camp provided viewers with an idea of the
camp structure. A picture of a guard tower reminded viewers that the
Japanese had not been relocated into normal housing conditions, but rather
to heavily secured barracks. The photo of a lonely, dusty, and ugly street
displayed a typical camp scene.[23]
These panels displayed the shame that the Japanese community felt towards
their experience and also showed the shame of the government for forcing the
evacuation of thousands of innocent people. The internment experience was
further depicted through a full-scale model of the interior of a barrack.
The set showed the cramped living quarters and the lack of privacy that a
barrack provided. Included in the model were a twin bed, a table and three
chairs, a dresser, a desk, and a wood-burning stove. The “room” appeared
clean and attempted a homey atmosphere, but was obviously extremely small
and inappropriate for a family. This life-size model gave many viewers
their first glimpse at the living conditions in which Japanese lived during
World War Two. These panels and displays depicting “shame” evoked various
emotions and responses from the viewers. Unfortunately, not all of the
reactions were sensitive to the Japanese experience.

Reactions
to “Pride and Shame”

The director of MOHAI,
Sutton Gustison, had been on vacation when the exhibit was set up. When she
returned, she was disturbed by parts of the exhibit—namely the displays and
panels about Japanese internment.
[24] Mrs. Gustison had thought that the exhibit
would showcase harmless Japanese cultural items and practices, such as
traditional clothing and art. Moriguchi explained: “I guess she didn’t
like history that wasn’t kind.”[25]
The exhibit caught Mrs. Gustison so off guard that she attempted to have the
questionable parts removed.[26]
Her efforts were unsuccessful, however, and the public saw the display as it
was intended to be viewed.

The exhibit was on
display from July 7 to September 7, 1970.[27]
In all, some 34,000 people, Japanese and non-Japanese alike, saw the “Pride
and Shame” exhibit at MOHAI. The JACL and MOHAI sent out invitations and
flyers to the Japanese American community as well as many others. Flyers
and pamphlets were also created and distributed.[28]
The public also became informed of the exhibit through media coverage,
albeit scant. Both The Seattle Times and The Seattle
Post-Intelligencer ran a brief notice about the exhibit in the Arts and
Entertainment section around the exhibit’s opening in early July. The
Times featured a photograph from the exhibit of several Japanese people
in a car, titled “Part of the Pride.”[29]
A short blurb about the exhibit provided readers with the essentials, but
did not offer a review of the exhibit. The P-I provided a somewhat
longer article than the Times, but not much more in the way of
opinion. Titled, “Exhibit Examines Role of Japanese,” the article mostly
described for readers what the exhibit featured.[30]
The Pacific Citizen, the national JACL publication, wrote only a
short article titled “Inside WRA camp part of Seattle museum display.”[31]
Although targeted to Japanese Americans, the newspaper did not significantly
highlight the profound museum exhibit or relate its importance to its
readers. Given the large number of people who viewed the “Pride and Shame”
exhibit, it is surprising that so little attention was paid to it by the
media.

Many of those who viewed
the “Pride and Shame” were of Japanese descent. It is hard to know how the
Japanese American community as a whole felt about the exhibit. Many had
spoken openly about internment while others had long been silent, and
reactions to the exhibit likely varied. An interview with Matsuda in
November 2005 provides some insight into the complicated reactions of
Japanese Americans to internment. On the one hand, Matsuda noted that his
parents spoke openly about internment, and actually participated in reunions
with people they met while interned. But on the other hand, Matsuda noted,
“Japanese are not like Italians…there’s a lot of keeping it inside, not
expressing things…you don’t say anything, you don’t complain, you don’t make
waves.”[32]
Even though we don’t know the exact feelings of those who saw the exhibit,
we know that “Pride and Shame” got people thinking.

In a JACL report
following the MOHAI exhibit, Moriguchi wrote that the “products of the
exhibit were: (1) youth involvement, (2) interest from other communities in
the display, and (3) a general awakening of the Japanese people to their
history and activities.”[33]
The exhibit caused enough Japanese Americans to evaluate their feelings
towards their internment experience that the redress movement gained
significant support and publicity. Furthermore, “Pride and Shame” was
considered so important by its creators and many who viewed it that the
exhibit was turned into a traveling display that eventually toured the
Pacific Northwest.

“Pride
and Shame” on the Road

While “Pride and Shame”
may not have attracted the attention of the media, it did get the attention
of several other museums and Japanese communities in other parts of the
Northwest. Kenneth Hopkins, director of the Washington State Capitol Museum
asked Tomio Moriguchi if he would be interested in creating a “joint
museum-community project” out of “Pride and Shame.”[34]
Moriguchi and the Seattle JACL decided to continue the “Pride and Shame”
project and take the display on the road. Moriguchi turned things over to
Dr. Minoru Masuda, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington
and co-Chair of the Pride and Shame Committee, because of his knowledge of
attaining grants.[35]
In mid-October, Minoru sent a hefty report to the National Endowment for the
Humanities in request of a grant totaling $8571.00, to be used from July 1st
1971 to December 31st 1973.[36]
The application provided a brief history of the Japanese American community
and emphasized the need to tell the story of internment to more people. The
application further explained the breakdown of the traveling exhibit,
listing how it would travel, where to, and what would be included in the
exhibit. The grant application was reviewed and in late March 1971 earned the JACL just over $6500.00 to put “Pride and Shame” on the road.[37]

A new committee was
created within the JACL to take on the many tasks of changing the original
exhibit into a traveling one. “It was changed quite a bit,” Moriguchi
recalled.[38]
Much of the same material and information was included in the traveling
exhibit, but showcased in a new way. Members worked to revise the display;
they built new pieces and structures and designed the panels to be easily
put up and taken down. Furthermore, the committee decided to enhance the
exhibit with a live presentation by knowledgeable people. Described as “ a
verbal, hard-hitting aspect to the exhibit…calculated to make a dynamic
[impact],”[39]
the panel was considered to be a vital addition to the exhibit. Not only
would the pictures and displays speak to viewers, but members of the
Japanese community would share stories, lead discussions, and answer
questions.

Like the naming of the
original exhibit, the quest for the exhibit logo produced an informative,
artistic, and crucial graphic design. Frank Fujii designed what is still
used and known today as “the call to arms.” The logo depicts the character
representation of the Issei, Nisei, and Sansei generations surrounded by a
circle, and ringed with barbed wire.[40]
This logo accompanied all advertising and followed the exhibit wherever it
went, symbolizing the collaboration of the three Japanese American
generations on the project. With the logistics of the exhibit worked out,
the committee set to finding places to showcase the exhibit.

In the grant
application, Minoru wrote, “It is felt that this exhibition must be seen by
as many people as possible. It is not designed to be shown only in
educational institutions, but should be placed in shopping center malls,
civic centers, public buildings and community centers…and military
reservations.”[41]
Despite these lofty goals of expansive showcasing, the exhibit was primarily
displayed in community colleges, high schools, and museums.[42]
The State Capitol Museum in Olympia featured the exhibit first in early
January 1972. The traveling “Pride and Shame” also made appearances at
Shoreline, Highline, Tacoma, Big Bend, Columbia Basin and Spokane Falls
community colleges. It was also viewed at Bainbridge, Franklin, Sammamish
and Mercer Island high schools. The Seattle JACL and Japanese American
communities throughout the Pacific Northwest felt that the “Pride and Shame”
exhibit was so important that they applied for and were granted an extension
of funding for additional years of travel. This extension allowed even more
people to view the Japanese American history and culture. The last showing
of the exhibit was in 1975 at Western Washington University. Despite the
exhibit’s extensive travels, turnout was not as high as expected. Moriguchi
and the Pride and Shame organizers had hoped to make a huge splash in the
region and the nation. He reflected that

We just thought
thousands of people would have to come to see our exhibit. But there wasn't
that much interest … in retrospect, I don’t think we made as much impact as
I thought we would or could or should have…I think that if I were to do it
now, we would promote it much differently, bigger….[43]

Moriguchi saw the exhibit’s impact as most concentrated on the nation’s
Japanese American community instead of the country as a whole. That said,
over 100,000 people had seen the exhibit by the time it was packed up in
1975.

Towards
Redress

The traveling exhibit
was largely successful. Once again, however, media attention was scarce,
and few reactions to the exhibit were recorded. Why was there so little
reporting on the “Pride and the Shame” exhibit? It is difficult to
determine all of the factors that went into the reception of the exhibit by
the public and the media. The fact that there is little information about
the “Pride and Shame” exhibit and its response by the public does not leave
us empty-handed. Rather, the lack of information is in itself information.
Perhaps the public was not prepared to openly acknowledge a crime committed
against some of its inhabitants under the watch of everyone. Another factor
that played into how the exhibit was received was the relative novelty at
the time of a political museum exhibit that questioned the American
government’s handling of World War II. Especially at MOHAI, exhibits mostly
displayed “pretty” history and cultural artifacts. For example, exhibits
showcased at MOHAI between its founding in 1952 and “Pride and Shame”
include: “Christmas Around the World,” “Boeing History,” “Early Day
Outdoors,” and “Towboating.”
[44] The lack of provocative exhibits provided for
a mismatched atmosphere in which “Pride and Shame” entered. As one of the
first museum displays to feature injustices at MOHAI, “Pride and Shame”
might have taken some by surprise.

Although media coverage
is rapid and has far-reaching powers, there are other benchmarks from which
we can measure the success of “Pride and Shame.” One such point of
reference is literature. From scholarly articles to personal testimonies,
literature concerning the Japanese internment began to be published in huge
numbers. A search through various databases proves that before 1970, the
year in which “Pride and Shame” was exhibited, journalism about Japanese
internment was scarce. According the University of Washington Libraries
Database, a total of about 19 books about Japanese internment was published
between 1940 and 1969.[45]
The search returned ten books published from 1940 to 1949, six books from
1950 to 1959, and three books from 1960 to 1969. The growing demand for
redress during the 1970s and 80s was met with the publication of countless
books, articles, and journals, as well as the production of videos and sound
recordings. The new texts focused more specifically on the injustice of the
internment experience, effects of internment on the Japanese American
population, and the need for reparations. From 1970 to 1980, 19 books were
published, and from 1980 to 1990, 43 books about internment were published.
A search of the OCLC WorldCat database, an international literature search
engine, reports that 54 books hit the shelves between 1980 and 1990, while
20 sound recordings were created.[46]
The titles sported by the new literature spoke of the changing attitude
among Japanese Americans and the public. No longer were titles simple and
nice; instead, many of the titles aggressively called out to readers.
Behind Barbed Wire, In Search of Justice, Concentration Camps
USA, and Personal Justice Denied are just a few examples of the
hard-hitting and compelling titles displayed on literature after 1970.

The “Pride and Shame”
exhibit played an important part in this rise in interest in the Japanese
American World War Two experience. The exhibit successfully reached over
100,000 people and acted as a turning point for many who viewed it. It
presented internment in the voice of Japanese Americans, and indicated that
they were ready for action to seek redress. The exhibit was also seen by
non-Japanese. The revelation to whites and other groups about what had
happened to the Japanese created an audience more receptive to the campaign
for redress. The exhibit created a yearning for more knowledge about
Japanese internment among some. Others felt the need to share their story
or opinions to reach even more people.

“Pride and Shame” is
credited with having provided an important spark to the movement for redress
in the Japanese American community. In Born in Seattle, author
Shimabukuro reports that within the traveling dates of “Pride and Shame” the
initial plans for redress were presented by Henry Miyatake at a Seattle JACL
meeting.[47]
The issue had a galvanizing effect in Seattle, and a ripple effect
throughout the nation.

Despite increased action
towards redress and publicity about Japanese internment, justice was a long
time coming. Not until 18 years after the showcasing of “Pride and Shame”
did the Japanese American community receive a belated apology. On August
10, 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act into law. This
act awarded those interned a “national apology and monetary compensation to
the surviving Japanese Americans” affected by internment.
[48] Each interned person was to receive a check
for $20,000 from the federal government as restitution for their suffering
and property losses. These reparations paid to thousands of surviving
individuals would not have been possible without the determination and hard
work of the Seattle JACL, including one of its first attempts at “Pride and
Shame.”

As reported in Born
in Seattle, the Seattle JACL pushed the national JACL to take up the
issue. Seattle Representative Mike Lowry introduced the first redress
legislation to the U.S. House on November 28, 1979. As Lowry later noted,
“If you had to say what’s the one reason of the redress legislation passing,
it was because of the Seattle Chapter JACL.”[49]
The “Pride and Shame” exhibit appeared to have subtle effects, but they were
far-reaching and powerful on levels from personal suffering to national
history.

In today’s fast-paced,
high-tech world, information and education about internment is readily
available and commonly known. This has not always been the case, however.
Not until after the “Pride and Shame” exhibit in 1970 did literature about
Japanese relocation and internment become widely available. The increasing
production of internment and redress concerned literature reflected the
growing support and publicity of the redress movement. Because of “Pride
and Shame” a community that had repressed its feelings and its history was
better able to talk about their experiences and emotions. Because of “Pride
and Shame” many people unfamiliar with the injustice imposed upon the
Japanese became informed. Because of “Pride and Shame” a community finally
became outraged at what had been done to them and fought for redress.
Because of “Pride and Shame” the priceless histories of an aging population
were captured before they were lost forever.

Copyright (c) Allison
Shephard 2006
HSTAA 498 Autumn 2005

[1]Executive
Order 9066: The Internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans, Asian
American Studies Center,

University of California, Los Angles.
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/aasc/ex9066.

[2]
Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese
(1942),

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=74#.

[3]
Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese
(1942).